The Space Educators' Handbook

NASA proves you can learn something on the Web and still have fun

• The Space Educators' Handbook
• By Jerry Woodfill
• woodfill@cheers.jsc.nasa.gov
• Supports text-only

he Space Educator's Handbook originated as a software program for educators, and it contains material on NASA, space science, space history and space technology. While aimed at high school students, the information and lessons are of interest to anyone curious about space exploration in the past, present or future. There is an enormous amount of fascinating knowledge here, but the following sections should be of particular interest to science fiction lovers:

Science Fiction/Space Technology: Tools for Learning looks at fictional spacecraft from Jules Verne's moon capsule to the Enterprise and compares them to real spacecraft. By pointing out strengths and omissions in the fictional designs, it teaches how true spaceships function.

Space Movies Cinema presents 18 Quicktime movies of famous moments in space exploration, such as the first step on the moon or a shuttle launch. Each movie is accompanied by in-depth explanation and analysis, such as how engineers designed a flag for a planet with no atmosphere.

Space Comics includes online comics about the Wright brothers and Apollo 13.

The Space Calendar lists historic air or space events for every day of the year and includes black and white illustrations.

Space Mathematics is a selection of math problems aimed at high school students. All the problems are taken directly from real space exploration, and they are designed to show how math is used to solve real world problems.

Every section has merit, although most of the comics are simple black and white scans of old coloring books. Not too appealing, but there is one absolute gem: Aero & SPACE is an online color comic that is utterly science fictional. Robots duke it out in low orbit! Rather unexpected from NASA, and a lot of fun. Another highlight is the Calendar, which is great for looking up birthdays.

Like many government sites, while the information in the handbook is useful and even exciting, the presentation can be rather dull -- plain browser-gray backgrounds live on at NASA. Unlike many government sites, though, the information is logically organized and easy to explore. One nice touch is a Cool Hidden Stuff section with links to interesting pages that users might otherwise miss. With its concise introductions, this site makes an excellent starting point for exploring space via the Web, and it is particularly strong in its coverage of space history. While the Web contains plenty of cutting edge information, it's nice to see links to the past as well as the future.

Here's the neatest thing I learned at the SEH: did you know that astronauts on the space shuttle consume 3000 calories of food a day? Working in a frictionless environment requires a lot of energy. --Brooks

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